you can't look at one and appreciate for what it is, the terrain and environment it survives in, you're missing something. >> reporter: they are highly endangered predators, targeted by poachers for their pelts and killed by farmers for attacking their livestock. they're now believed to be between 100 and 200 in afghanistan, so, finding one is not an easy task. especially in a war-torn country, where roves packs of taliban fighters are always a threat. >> so, this would be the volley up here. >> reporter: welcome to the mountainous border region in northeastern afghanistan. this is snow leopard country. among those on boone's experienced team? tracker hussein ali and fellow trapper john goodrich. >> trapping is a game of odds. we're trying to predict the exact spot. >> reporter: to catch their big cat, they must set a series of snares. >> and now we camouflage the loop and the pit. >> reporter: then, there's the transmitter, which will alert the team when a cat is caught. once it is set, all there is to do is wait. >> there's a signal. beep, beep, beep. >> reporter: it's the middle of t